Nope, just a few friends making an annual pilgrimage to the 'Dragon.
I don't go up there very often these days even though it's only 45 minutes away.. It's fun, but during the
summer there are too many "slayers" (i.e. fat guys on slow bikes), too many wanna-be racing drivers, and the "Fuzz"
is thick out there as well. So while I enjoy a spirited drive through the woods, I could do without a motorcyclist in
my grille and/or some type of citation.

This trip was pretty fun though. We drove through at a relaxed pace, then
just happened to stumble into a gas station where there were two other NSXs from Chicago and somewhere else.

Well, I didn't break anything, turned a personal best 1:09.4x, and the weather was great. 'Can't really
ask for much better.

My take-aways from the weekend are that A) I need new rear tires again and B) I would desperately
like a data-logging system of some time. Even a phone ap on which I could look at sector times would be invaluable in
sorting out some of the "to shift, or not to shift" quandries at TGPR and other similar tracks. Something to consider...

In the mean time, I've already been to tire rack to address the near-slicks. I think I am going to bite the bullet
and replace the right rear toe link "while I'm in there" because I'm not convinced there isn't some
dynamic toe change happening that's exacerbating tire wear on that corner.

After two CMP events more-or-less back-to-back: one with the intent of pushing forward my licensing progress, and the
other an actual race (of sorts...see write up to the left), I'll be hitting Little Talladega again with "the guys"
so-to-speak.

These events are fun because there's no pressure, everyone knows everyone, and since it's TGPR
you can turn a ton of laps and really work on your setup in a way that you just can't at a big track.

I've
made a couple of changes on the NSX:

-I should have polyurethane engine mounts handed back to me (hopefully early) this
week to correct the engine motion issues I felt at CMP and later confirmed in the garage were due to a rubber mount preparing
to fail.

-I've added a stiffening bar to the front of the car that should help with cowl flex.

-I will also
be softening the front sway bar a notch to help with the push I felt at CMP. TGPR should be a pretty good indicator
of the wisdom (or not) of that change.

Having now emerged from the icy grasp of the dreaded "off" season, allow me to reflect on a few months fraught
with frustration, punctuated by relief, and highlighted by new acquisition.

One of us (your humble author) spent
the majority of his time digging through, swearing at, and attempting to apply science to the NSX's ALB system.
I finally resolved the electrical issue less than two weeks before the opening track event of the season. I have also
finally brought myself to list my venerable MR2 Turbo for sale with the aim of picking up something that A) Just works all
the time and doesn't need paint in a bad way B) is SCCA SoloII class competitive.

The other one of us spends way
too much time on e-bay. The results of which will likely make at least a photographic debut on this site before too
long. Or if you prefer, hit up Cars & Coffee in Knoxville on 3/3, and bring your taste for lavender.

As I sit here typing this on a quiet Sunday afternoon, the NSX sits peacefully in the garage. Front tires nearly
shot, wheels covered in brake dust, with the paint and windshield coated with streaks of oil and melted rubber, it stands
as a filthy testament to it's own renewed vigor.

It completed a 300 mile round trip, something like 70 laps
of Nashville Super Speedway, and did this without a whimper, gurgle, burp, rattle, or pop. It ticked over 232,000 miles
in the second session of the day. May it be the first of many.

Everyone's favorite (well, mine
anyway) test track, Talladega "Gran Prix" Raceway (TGPR) lies stone's throw from the big oval in Talladega,
Alabama. It isn't the longest track at 1.4 miles, but it has a nice variety of turns and is a real test of your
brakes and will definitely expose any incongruities with your car's balance. I've had some half dozen days of
practice on this track but I learn something new every time I go.

The epiphany this time involved a way to take turn 3 that didn't feel horribly awkward and/or slow. A second
revelation manifested itself in the form of a Mitsubishi Evo doing something ridiculous into the 6/7/8 chicane (reference
~11:50 in the first video below.. That, I'm sure, will provide hours of entertainment on my next visit.

I did bring back some video. The first session is probably the more entertaining
of the two since it contains other cars. The second contains my FTD on lap 5.

Recent Articles

Southern Discomfort: LeMons racing with the Squirting Coronas.

I journeyed back to Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) this past weekend, but this time to do some actual racing.
Several of my autocross friends had put a team together with a...what's the politically correct term these days?..."Southern,
pseudo-Hispanic" theme that drew inspiration from a particular beverage of choice. The beverage in question should
be fairly obvious from the team name if not the livery on our Mercedes 300E "LeMon". Our motley crew consisted
of five drivers, all autocrossers (three with prior road-course experience), and one significant other who took pictures and
talked sense (Thanks Jordi!).

We started fast
and our lead-off driver Keith even competed for the lead at points...for about 20 laps anyway. At that point we got
black flagged because the lawn-chairs bolted to the trunk apparently obscured our brake lights (pshh, we were braking later
than anyone else anyway). The chair problem only took a couple of minutes to fix, the issue with the brake lines however...that
took a bit longer. In a classic "it came from E-Bay" moment, we had installed some stainless brake lines before
the race, aaaand 3/4 of them had utterly failed. Not sort-of/kinda/maybe failed, I mean they blew their fittings and
were dangling in the wheel wells. One was only held on by the cosmetic shrink wrap. Mercifully, Gary (our team
captain) had left the 20-year-old rubber Mercedes lines in the toolbox and we managed to turn it around in 20 minutes.

Back on track, our second driver managed to work
us back from deep in the 70s into the 60s in spite of a minor agricultural moment early in his stint. The car ran flawlessly
for two hours as Aaron picked his way through the field and ticked off the laps. Dry of fuel, we came in and I jumped
in the car with a full tank of gas. After a few tragically slow laps where I couldn't find 2nd gear on the automatic
box (there was a dog-leg and I couldn't turn my head far enough between the HANS and harnesses to see this), I started
to find the pace a little and had gotten the Corona/Good-Beer/AMG mercedes (always wanted to say it like that) down into the
50s (out of 84 cars entered). Tragically, just as I'd ticked off several of the fastest laps of the day on a now-dry
track, the head-gasket let go.

We tried literally "everything", but to no avail. For giggles, we put a bucket under the tailpipe
as the car was idling (we were adding some stop-leak), and in 20 minutes of idling, the bucket had collected about a gallon
of water....thus metaphorically representing the fork denoting exactly how "done" we were. Ah well, there's
always next time. Even with a short day it was a blast. Apologies to Gary and Derek, who weren't able to turn
a lap.

Winter Meltdown Indeed: 3-Zero moves into 2012.

Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) isn't the closest track to where we are based in
Knoxville, TN. It is, however, not the worst commute, which is why I've been there half a dozen or so times now.
As such it's probably the closest thing to a "home track" that I could claim at this point, with Talladega GP
a close second. You may recall the last time I made the trip to CMP in February. Mercifully, this trip was more devoid of blizzard. In other great news, the
NSX performed...well, as you might expect a Honda should. Although I did find a couple of minor things that need to
be addressed, it was a trouble-free weekend on the whole.......also, that thing is a helluva lot of fun to drive when it's
acting right.

You'll find some video
below from two of the more entertaining sessions of the weekend. The first consists of me following an ex-racer in a
blown S2000 around whilst dodging antique mustangs. The second is a busier session, but I get to chase down a not-so-antique
Boss 302 pony. The last lap of the second video is a 1:51.xxx and the quickest I have recorded for the weekend.
Comment/Critique is welcome.

Video(s) of the Month

Not
to be completely outdone by those three British guys, the Hungarians can also throw together a very watch-able car review
when pressed....yes, I'm partial.

Team 3:Zero, motorsports enthusiast group hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee